Ronnie Williams Jr. leads Herald-Sun qualifying

Ronnie Williams Jr. put his name on the last award in the Herald-Sun Golf Classic without it on Tuesday as he shot the lowest two-round qualifying total at Hillandale Golf Course to earn medalist honors.

He shot a 67 on Tuesday to go with his opening-round 65 for a 132 total. It was two shots better than Scott Campbell (68-66—134).

"It feels good, though. I've shot a 68 or 69 before but never this low," Williams said. "I had five birdies and one bogey (Tuesday) and I'll take that anytime."

Williams said his two rounds were the best he's ever shot in qualifying for the tournament.

The only blemish on his scorecard was the bogey on No. 18.

"I got a little greedy there," Williams said. "I was sitting there with a good score and thought I had a chance to go for eagle. It just didn't work out."

Defending champion Melvin Barnes rallied from his his first-day 73 to shoot a 67 in the second round. He automatically qualified as the No. 1 seed in the Championship Flight for the match-play portion of the tournament that begins on Thursday.

The top 16 from qualifying will compete in the Championship Flight. The rest of the field will be divided into flights based on final qualifying scores.

Last year's medalist and tournament runner-up Bill Bambic struggled with his short game and finished rounds of 75 and 73 that gave him a 148. He still managed to make the Championship Flight.

"I've got to work on my inside-100-yard shots," Bambic said. "I need to hit those a little closer than I have the past couple of days. I need to give myself better looks at birdie. If I'm in the Championship Flight, I've got a chance. I feel good about my game and for whatever reason the past couple of days didn't pan out the way I had hoped coming into the tournament."

Lea Couch was the top senior. He cruised to senior medalist honors by seven strokes after finishing with rounds of 68 and 71 for a 139 total.

Defending senior champion Dink Andrews was second in qualifying scoring with a pair of 73s to post a 146.

There will be two senior flights.

The junior medalist was Toby Ivey Jr., who shot 72 in both of his rounds to post a 144. He is one of three juniors to make the Championship Flight.

In all there were nine golfers who posted sub-par rounds in qualifying on the par-71 layout, including two each by Williams and Campbell. Couch was the only other golfer to stay in the red with his total.

Michael Wicker and Michael Smith, who both finished with 141 totals, each broke par once in qualifying. Smith in the first round with a 70 and Wicker posted a 69 in the second round.

Wicker said he's finding his game again and is looking forward to switching over to match play.

"I had 12 birdies in two days so I know I can make birdies out here," said Wicker, who birdied his first three holes to start his second round. "But I finished up with a double bogey on 18. I did what I needed to do to get myself qualified for the Championship Flight."

Golfers get Wednesday off before returning to action on Thursday in match play.

In Durham

Hillandale GC

Tuesday's Final Qualifying Round

x-defending champion

y-medalist

z-junior medalist

Senior Division

x-senior medalist

This story was originally published June 20, 2017 at 6:14 PM with the headline "Ronnie Williams Jr. leads Herald-Sun qualifying."